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National Exit Test for medical students likely from 2023
This will serve not only as a common qualifying final year MBBS exam, but also as a licentiate exam that those taking it will need to clear before they can practice modern medicine in the country.
After the national eligibility cum entrance test (NEET) for admission to medical colleges, the government is likely to introduce NExT (national exit test) for final year undergraduate medical students from next year, according to people familiar with the matter.
This will serve not only as a common qualifying final year MBBS exam, but also as a licentiate exam that those taking it will need to clear before they can practice modern medicine in the country. It will also be criteria for merit-based allocation of postgraduate seats in broad specialties and a bridging exam for foreign medical graduates wanting to practice in the country.
“The exit exam is most likely going to start from the batch of students that is going to graduate in 2023. The modalities are being worked out,” said a senior central government official aware of the matter, requesting anonymity.
“If NExT is introduced in the education system then it will do away with the need to conduct NEET-PG (national eligibility-cum-entrance examination). It will be a common test for multiple purposes that is meant to be implemented across the board,” this person added.
The national board of examinations in medical sciences is likely to conduct the test but there could also be a possibility of outsourcing the process to a third party, the people familiar with the matter added.
There is also a mock test planned before implementing the final exam, to test the procedure and remove anxiety among medical students, according to the person citied above.
The proposal for a common exit test for all medical graduates was floated by the National Medical Commission that came into being on September 25, 2020 through an act of parliament, National Medical Commission Act, 2019, and which is spearheading the implementation process.
NExT will also be applicable to institutes of national importance such as the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences in order to have a common standard of medical education sector in the country.
Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, held a review meeting with the medical commission in July last year to discuss ways to make NExT a world-class examination .
“The importance of the NExt Exam lies in the fact that it will be the same for everyone whether trained in India or any part of the world and hence it will solve the problem of foreign medical graduates (FMGs) / Mutual recognition… the Government of India is committed to creating quality medical education and transparent examination infrastructure and health services and is relentlessly working with all stakeholders to achieve this objective,” Mandaviya said at the time, according to a statement from the government.
Experts in the field of medical education have long been talking about the need to have a common exit examination as a means of standardizing medical education across the country.
Some experts, however, say everyone cannot be measured by the same yardstick.
“How can one single exam decide all three? ” said Dr RV Asokan, former secretary general, Indian Medical Association.
“The methodology to assess has to be different, as for PG entrance you have to look for the best among medical professionals who you send for further specialisations as opposed to assessing those who want to be able to practice medicine. You cannot use the same benchmark, which is why we raised concerns regarding the way NExT has been envisaged,” he added.
